TO THE

MOST LEARNED

AUTHOR,

Truly a Philosopher through fire and water. An alchemical reference to the dual processes of purification: distillation (water) and calcination (fire).

TACHENIUS.

By anagram, removing the breathing sound The letter 'H' was often treated as a mere "aspiration" or breath in Latin and could be omitted to facilitate the creation of anagrams.

But you shall conquer,

Go this way until now

Who would deny ancient Chymistry original: "Chimia," the 17th-century precursor to modern chemistry, often focused on distilling medicines, and the holy discovery,
Which they say the divine Hippocrates The famous Greek physician; Tachenius argues that Hippocrates used chemical principles in his medicine. cultivated?
By THIS way the path to the secrets of holy nature lies open,
Without this you will scarcely prepare a work worthy of praise:
Without this the Physician provides nothing for the languishing body,
Without this the great pharmacist original: "pharmacopola," meaning an apothecary or medicine-seller will give nothing.
GO THIS WAY by this path; she Wisdom or Chymistry teaches the labors of Wisdom original: "Sophia",
Let neither the labor nor foul monsters frighten you at once.
Industrious one, you should shake out the secrets of hidden nature;
Here the nourishing priest of nature teaches the way.
I confess there is sweat at the beginning, but with time YOU SHALL CONQUER,
And it is given to pluck the apples of the Hesperides In Greek mythology, golden apples guarded by nymphs; in this context, they symbolize the precious fruits of alchemical success. by hand.

I I.

The Chymist, pregnant with Fire, Water, Earth, and Air,
Could not fail to have brought forth a good birth.
For he encloses these four The four classical elements in one center,
By Vulcan The Roman god of fire, representing the alchemist's furnace, by wit, and by the dexterity of the hand.

I I I.

The Chymist by his art encloses the medicine in one
Center, from which the whole crowd of diseases flees.